Hunters Ascendant
by LemonCoffeeCake
Summary: There are great forces at work in Remnant. Forces no one truly knows about or believes in. And now, eight young hunters will follow their destiny. They will ally with the Lifebringer. They will defeat the Grimmfather. They will ascend. And the world will know their names. Whiterose, Bumblebee, Arkos, Renora. Season 3 canon mostly ignored.
1. Dramatis Personae

Hunters Ascendant

 _By LemonCoffeeCake_

Boring preface: Hello! I am LemonCoffeeCake, and this is the first chapter of Hunters Ascendant, a fic about RWBY. Now, for boring legal BS…yadda yadda yadda…and your firstborn son…LemonCoffeeCake does not own RWBY. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth, and was created by Monty Oum, R.I.P. I have merely…repurposed it.

"Is today pancake day?"

"No, Ruby. Today is not pancake day. Yesterday was pancake day, and, as we have previously established, you dolt, there is only one pancake day in a week."

"Hey, no insulting my sister! Only I get to do that."

"You're not her partner, though, are you?"

"Well…um…Blake, help me out here!"

"Sorry, love. Reading a book."

"But what if I promise to do the thing?"

"What _thing?_ "

"The thing with the-"

Weiss clapped her hand over Yang's mouth before anything particularly scarring came out, but Ruby was pretty sure—in the moments where Yang managed to remove Weiss's hand—that she heard the words "tongue," "double-ended," and "repeated at least five times."

Blake face-palmed repeatedly.

So, in all fairness, it was a pretty normal walk to breakfast for Team RWBY. As it had been for the previous three years.

Later, they'd all look back on that day, and share a hearty laugh about how normal it had been.

* * *

Breakfast, as it turned out, was oatmeal. Ruby, as it turned out, did not like oatmeal. And Nora, as it turned out, did not like people who didn't eat their breakfast.

"Nora, you're killing her!"

Nora looked up from her current occupation of Using a Gigantic Ladle to Make Ruby Eat at her team leader with a face that Jaune could only describe as adorably terrifying. Much like Nora herself, actually.

"No, silly! I'm helping her live longer! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, ya know! Hey, that reminds me, did I ever tell you about the time when…"

Jaune turned to Ren, who had adopted his standard policy of non-intervention, and made a subtle hand signal.

Ren, as per instructions, quickly slid next to Nora and silenced her with a kiss.

He was then silenced in turn by Nora hugging him hard enough to break a rib or ten. Ruby quickly took the opportunity to escape.

"Aw, that's so sweet! Hey guys, did you just see what happened! Ren kissed me! In public! I remember the first time that happened…"

Jaune turned to Ren with a deeply apologetic look on his face.

Someone behind him laughed.

"I see our fearless leader still doesn't quite have a plan for every situation, then?"

Jaune smiled, turning around to see Pyrrha behind him.

"Yeah, well, love is an undefinable quantity, right?"

Pyrrha smiled and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, sliding in next to him and prying Nora off Ren.

"Actually, from a scientific perspective, one could argue that's not the case."

Jaune's smile widened.

"Yeah, but I was never very good at science. Anyway…"

Jaune spun to face Ruby.

"Today's when our next field mission starts, right? Have you guys looked for one yet?"

"Well, since my very sensible idea of hunting down just a few Beowolves didn't get a majority, we haven't yet, no," huffed Weiss.

"Hey, wait a minute, princess!" said Yang. "We very specifically agreed we were going to kill that nest of Deathstalkers in Mountain Glenn, remember? Because we're familiar with the territory?"

"Yang, Blake and I both voted against that idea, effectively eliminating-"

The intercom buzzed.

"Would teams RWBY and JNPR please report to the office of Headmaster Ozpin at once?"

The heads of everyone in the cafeteria turned quickly to the aforementioned eight people.

Ruby was the first to respond.

"I don't know what it was, but Yang did it."

"Hey!"


	2. A Revelation

It was the greatest gathering of evil the world had probably ever seen.

Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, Adam Taurus, Neopolitan Torchwick, and one other sat in front of Cinder Fall. If there ever was a more wretched hive of scum and villainy, it certainly couldn't be found on Remnant.

Cinder was the first to speak.

"So. We have, as you may all have noticed, been flying under the radar for the last few years. Mercury, Emerald, Neo, and I have infiltrated Beacon, but we have not achieved anything of note."

She stood up and walked over to a screen on the wall of the room they were in.

"There is, of course, a reason. I wouldn't leave you all hanging."

The screen lit up, displaying the latest mug shot of Roman Torchwick. He was mostly uninjured, with the same "I-know-more-than-you" smirk as always.

"We have managed to acquire almost all the Dust we need to move forward with the plan, without suffering any major casualties. However, the only way to pull this off quietly will be to acquire all the Dust we still need in one large heist on a Schnee Dust vault or convoy."

The unnamed man groaned. If more light had been in evidence in the room, an observer might have noticed his powerful build, hair completely marble-white, and the giant claymore strapped across his back.

"Cinder, I thought we agreed to stop any direct robbery of the SDC."

Cinder smiled at the man, in a way which conveyed both apology and profound indifference to his views.

"I know, Blutrot, I know. But rest assured, any financial damages you suffer will be minor. In any event, the primary issue is that this heist would need to be pulled off in such a manner as to not appear easy, given that an easy theft from SDC would arouse suspicion. And the only person I know who possesses the skills necessary to create that illusion is Roman Torchwick. Unless, Neo, he chose to impart any of his skills to you."

Neo giggled.

"Nah. Roman always was a little mean to me. Seriously, what self-respecting thief doesn't buy their little sister a pony?"

Cinder frowned slightly.

"Not specifically important, Neo. In any event, we have one advantage. The 41st Vytal Festival is being held in Vale again, and, as we know, that means our favorite general will have moved all his troops into the area to protect Amity Coliseum and the tournament participants. With the chaos of the tournament going on, retrieving Roman should be relatively easy. Besides…"

The screen shifted to show an image of James Ironwood's commanding ship.

"With all the attention he'll be paying to protecting everyone else, James will have forgotten entirely about his need to protect himself."

Mercury raised an eyebrow.

"How would you know that? You have any history with Ironwood you're not telling us about?"

Cinder laughed at that.

"I did know James, once. But I doubt he'll recognize me. It's been a while, to say the least."

Emerald was next to voice a question.

"Cinder, while we're on the subject of people we're surprised you know, who's the new guy? We haven't been introduced, and all I can tell is that you've put him very far away from Adam."

Although it was theoretically impossible to tell given his mask, everyone knew Adam was glaring as the bull Faunus directed his eyes at the man named Blutrot.

"Let's just say he and I have some… _history_ together," Adam growled.

Cinder sighed.

"I know, Adam, I know you two hate each other, but he is vital to the plan. Which reminds me, Blutrot, would you care to introduce yourself?"

Blutrot stood up and walked to Cinder. As he entered the light, it was plainly visible to all that Neo was no longer their team's oddly colored member—two red irises clearly marked the man as albino. And suddenly, everyone recognized him.

How could they not? They'd seen this face a thousand times on TV screens, next to Faunus rights violations, record profit highs, and White Fang attacks. They'd seen this face very often captioned with the phrase "richest man in the world."

"Greetings, all. I am Blutrot Schnee…"

The screen shifted over to a crest reminiscent of a snowflake.

"…current CEO of the Schnee Dust Company."


	3. Action!

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry about the wait, but I've been traveling and haven't had a lot of time to write.

I'd like everyone to know that there may not be any updates for a while. That's because this is the last exposition chapter, and after I finish this, I have to actually sit down and work out exactly how the plot is going to go. I know there's a fight scene here that seems like it might be important, but this is mostly to add some shiptease and explain any newly created powers or changes I made to current ones. I am actually using Season 3 canon as it relates to Semblances and so forth, just not plotwise.

Anyway, on with the chapter.

 **Chapter 3: Action!**

The elevator in Ozpin's office dinged, and teams RWBY and JNPR stepped out. Ozpin had to admit, he was surprised they'd been so prompt.

"Good morning to you all. Please, take a seat."

Ozpin hit one of the buttons under his desk, and eight seats popped out of the floor. The teams quickly took his advice.

Ruby, as always, was the first to speak.

"Um, Professor, are…are we in trouble?"

Ozpin grinned.

"No, Miss Rose. You are not. In fact, I have called all of you here today to give you a mission."

Ozpin pressed another button, and a map of the city showed up with a gently pulsing red dot on it.

"We have, in this warehouse, located a small White Fang operation of no more than twenty members."

Ozpin noticed the minute tightening of Blake's hand on her armrest.

"As their motives are unclear, we can only assume they plan to cause some sort of trouble at the Vytal Festival next week, and we would not want interference at the tournament or the festival, since I assume all of you are planning on your team being victorious."

Nora huffed.

"We only lost last year because I missed Yang that one time!"

Yang, of course, chimed in.

"And _we_ only lost because we were unaware of the fire rate on Coco's minigun! Or that Fox could use it as a jumping platform! Or that Yatsuhashi could then throw his spear thing-"

"Naginata," Ruby corrected.

"—fine, whatever, naginata in such a way that Fox could land on it! Or that he could then use Velvet's magic silk thing to make his arm blades _explode!_ "

Ozpin, throughout all of this, had adopted a look of polite indifference.

"In any case, I would like your teams to go root out this operation, considering you eight currently compose the most skilled Hunters in Beacon. Kill only if necessary, of course."

Ruby nodded vigorously.

"Got it, Professor!"

As one, the eight young Hunters stood and walked into the elevator. Just before it closed, Yang yelled, "And thanks for the compliment!"

* * *

Some time later, Teams RWBY and JNPR were lying on their stomachs in a conveniently large air vent.

Jaune and Ruby looked over the room, noting positioning of the White Fang (spread out, although all the guards did go through certain areas at once) and positioning of other useful objects (lots of shipping containers were spread across the room as well, though neither team leader could discern their purpose).

They then proceeded to discuss strategy quickly, before returning to the others.

"Nora, you're charged up, right?" asked Jaune.

"Yes, sir! Lightning flows through my veins like…like…blood flowing through veins!" Nora said in what most would think was a stage whisper but what RWBY and JNPR knew was actually as quiet as Nora could be.

"Right, then," said Ruby. "The plan is simple. The next time all the guards aren't looking, I'll carry Pyrrha as fast as I can so she can hit all of the shipping containers in the stack nearest to us. Do you think you can push those, Pyrrha?"

"Maybe not quickly," Pyrrha responded, "but their weight means they shouldn't take long to start falling."

"Then," Ruby continued, "the next time the guards are in that area, Pyrrha will push over the shipping containers. They should make enough noise that the guards will flee the large falling object, at which point Nora will shock them from range. Then, of course, we'll move into open combat. Any questions?"

Weiss quickly piped up.

"Do we know what's inside those shipping containers?"

Ruby grinned.

"Well, if they were Dust, it would make our job easier, but I messaged Ozpin and he said this warehouse just stores parts for the Knights and Paladins. So probably that."

"Ruby," Weiss grumbled, "you do realize those might be extremely difficult to replace."

"Yeah, but I don't think they'll break. Besides…"

Ruby flashed that grin that Weiss was incapable of saying no to.

"…if I thought it would put you in any danger from anyone, I wouldn't have proposed it."

Ruby very quickly realized what her last sentence had sounded like, and her face turned a slightly darker shade of red than her cloak.

"And when I say _you_ , I of course mean anyone in this duct!" she stammered. "In any event…"

Ruby turned to face Pyrrha.

"…ready, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha nodded.

"I think so. But Ruby, could you maybe-"

Pyrrha's sentence was cut off as Ruby grabbed her hand and zipped out of the vent, returning mere seconds later with rose petals fluttering behind her.

"Sorry, Pyrrha. What were you saying?"

Pyrrha, whose face had turned slightly green, just said, "Ignore it."

"In any event, we have about two minutes before the guards return to that spot again. Everyone get ready."

Scythes were expanded, swords were drawn, and Ruby's command was followed generally to the letter.

Weiss slid next to Ruby, taking special care to avoid any part of Crescent Rose.

"Ruby?"

"Yes, Weiss?"

 _When you said you would never put me in danger, was that a…confession of some sort?_

"What formation should we take?"

"I think we should use Snowflake. You know, the new back-to-back one we came up with."

"Alright."

The guards walked behind the crate, and Jaune signaled Pyrrha. Pyrrha threw out her hands, and the shipping crate began to move. One foot…two feet…

The crate began shaking, and the guards very quickly sprinted out from under it.

All twelve of them were immediately stunned by bolts of lightning which leapt out of the air vent.

The last thing they heard before sinking into blissful unconsciousness was a female and a male voice yelling "Everyone, NOW!"

* * *

Ruby skidded to a stop on the stone floor at the same time Weiss launched herself next to her partner, landing on a glyph and hopping to the ground.

Two agents of the White Fang stood in front of them. One raised a hand which held a sword and another with some sort of pistol, though Ruby could see it shaking. The other spoke with much more apparent confidence, pulling out a quarterstaff.

"So, then. Weiss Schnee."

Weiss quickly brought Myrtenaster into a ready stance. This did not apparently scare the agent.

"The crimes of your family against all Faunuskind shall be punished. You shall not live to see the end of this day. I shall…"

As the agent continued speaking, Ruby slid over to Weiss.

"Do you think he's going to set the new record?"

"I don't know. Forty-five minutes is going to be pretty hard to beat. Especially because I don't currently have the patience to deal with this."

"Okay then. I'll take the one spouting a monologue."

The agent still had not stopped.

"And when your family sees your corpse, they shall know—"

The agent's words were cut off by a quick application of Crescent Rose to the midsection. He flew back several feet, into another shipping container.

Ruby strode forward, holding her trusty sniper scythe at the ready.

"Would you please stop talking? It's annoying me."

The agent stood up, wincing a little but twirling his staff.

"And you would be Ruby Rose, then."

He leapt forward with a staff blow that surely would have been hard for a normal human to block.

However, for an almost fully-trained Huntress with the ability to move faster than the eye could see and a massive scythe, it was not quite so difficult.

Ruby grinned at the man who was currently gaping at his staff, which had been neatly severed in two when it hit Crescent Rose's blade.

"You know my name!"

She then threw a jab at his stomach. And while Ruby might not have been a large person (although she did know that the last three years had nicely…filled her out, even if Yang would never admit it), the equation was _f=ma_.

And Ruby was really good at the acceleration part.

The agent shot several feet into the air and landed just in front of Ruby. Conveniently for him, he was unconscious before he hit the ground, so he couldn't feel the broken arms he now had.

* * *

As Ruby moved to engage one agent, Weiss aimed Myrtenaster firmly at the other one.

The Faunus raised his sword, in what Weiss assumed was an attempt to look vaguely intimidating.

The fact that he was shaking so much Weiss was surprised he hadn't accidentally fired his gun, however, ruined the effect.

"W-well, then, i-if m-my partner is f-fighting her…"

Weiss fired some earth Dust at the man. Thankfully for him, he just managed to roll out of the way of the projectile, and was thusly not struck by the stone spikes that erupted from the ground where he had been standing.

The man quickly brought his pistol to bear, firing several shots at Weiss. Weiss, however, quickly assembled a pulling glyph in the air in front of her, dragging all the shots to a stop in front of her. Operating quickly, she reversed the glyph, launching the shots directly back at the operative, before quickly applying a time contraction glyph to herself.

Time seemed to slow down as Weiss watched the projectiles fly straight at the agent. The agent, for his part, did make a valiant effort to dodge.

Then Weiss, moving through time more quickly than most, was at his side and firing burn Dust through a glyph into a short range explosion that launched the man right back into the path of his own shots.

He was struck by all the blasts he had fired, and skidded on his back, unconscious, directly into a shipping container.

Weiss dispelled her time glyph, and Ruby dashed to her side, carrying Crescent Rose in its unexpanded form on her back and the agent she had been fighting slung over her shoulder.

"That was easy," Ruby quipped.

"Yeah."

As Ruby left to carry the unconscious operative to the air vent, Weiss, just as an aside, tried again to summon.

The glyph appeared, but all that showed up when it detonated was a large sword.

As usual.

Weiss briefly wondered why this was so hard.

* * *

Blake hid behind a container as a White Fang ran through the "hallway" nearest her.

She then leapt out from behind that container, and before that particular operative could blink, he was surrounded in a cylinder of many hazy purple mists, all in the shape of Blake.

Blake thanked Weiss for continuing to provide her with this new "shadow" Dust her family was making. The purple substance had a notable use as a stealth tool. It was supposedly difficult to form, however, being made of all the basic dust forms and gravity dust. Weiss said there was another form that was the same combination but with lightning rather than gravity dust, but Blake hadn't seen it yet.

The operative was laughing, apparently. Blake quickly returned herself to the matter at hand, firing Gambol Shroud as a grappling hook to launch up to a catwalk above the man.

The operative continued laughing for a short time, then stopped.

"You think this will protect you, traitor? My ability to sense Auras is second to none! You cannot possibly hide from me!"

Blake assumed the man was focusing, trying to sense her Aura and location.

Then a scream rang out from within the cylinder.

"Wha…wha…no…stay away, I'm warning you…NO!"

Blake jumped down from the catwalk and dispelled her shadows to see the man twitching on the ground. She walked over to him.

"Did I forget to tell you about shadow Dust? Apparently, when someone tries to sense Auras through it, it responds by showing them their deepest fears."

She then swiftly knocked the man into unconsciousness with a kick to the head.

"Useful tool."

* * *

Yang launched herself at the ground and quickly reloaded Ember Celica. Standing in front of her was a lion Faunus Yang could only assume had more muscles than sense.

She was also, however, quick to notice the very large club he had in his hand.

She was also extremely quick to notice the club being swung at her.

Yang quickly flung her gauntlets out to block the large implement. She still was pushed back several feet, but that was fine. Besides, nothing had actually hit her, right?

Yang looked at her right gauntlet (she could never remember if that one was Ember or Celica) and saw a small, blinking light attached to a larger explosive device of some sort.

"Oh, you motherf—"

The blast went off, and Yang was launched back another several feet into a shipping container before landing less than gracefully face-first.

Standing up, Yang took quick inventory.

 _Nothing broken, no large bruises…_

A few strands of hair floated down in front of her face.

Yang's eyes turned vibrantly red.

The agent, however, had turned away and did not notice her.

"Hey, you!"

The lion Faunus turned around to see Yang, hair glowing and surrounded in a flaming Aura, charging at him.

"I'm not _lion_ to you, bitch…"

Yang jumped into the air and slammed her fist into the Faunus's mask.

The punch and subsequent detonation launched the Faunus a good two feet underground.

"No one touches the hair!"

* * *

Jaune quickly threw his shield under him, skidding to a stop with sparks flying on the ground.

The agent in front of him appeared to have a very large axe on her person.

She quickly turned around.

"Aw, come on!"

Jaune was, at this point, very confused.

"I could have gotten to fight any of the others, and I get stuck with _you?_ "

 _Oh, I get it._

Jaune's understanding quickly turned into mild annoyance.

 _Wait. Was that an insult?_

"I'd like it to be known," Jaune said, "that I resent insults to my skill."

The agent said nothing, instead opting to charge at Jaune and bring her axe down in a powerful swing.

There was a flash of white, and the agent fell over. She quickly rose, picking up her axe.

"What was _that?"_

Jaune smirked.

"Tell me. What's the most recent data the White Fang has on me?"

The agent ran through her scroll.

"Weapons…style…Semblance…oh."

Jaune's smirk widened to a full-on grin.

"Yeah. The first use of my Semblance. Anyone who attacks me frontally takes the force of their own attack."

The agent laughed.

"Then I guess I won't attack you frontally! Axe! Split!"

The axe's cutting edges split into eight smaller blades, which surrounded Jaune before flying at him.

A dome of Aura expanded around the Hunter who Beacon had nicknamed the "White Knight," and all the blades fell limply to the ground.

Jaune laughed.

"You may have wanted to read that file more. The second use of my Semblance creates dome shields out of Aura wherever I want, whatever size I want."

The agent roared, brought her blades back to her axe, and charged, bringing her axe sideways to avoid Jaune's barrier.

Another dome shield popped into existence, and then the agent was shot back by a pulse of force.

"And the best part," continued Jaune, "is that I can imbue them with Dust, too."

While the agent was getting up, Jaune readied his sword and shield. The sword began to glow white.

"And the third use of my Semblance is a little simpler. It enhances my sword."

Jaune charged forward, swinging his blade at the agent's axe handle. It neatly split in two.

"First, I can make it cut better…"

Jaune leapt back and swung in a downward chop. A wave of energy launched from his blade and sent the agent flying, knocked out.

"…and second, I can make it shoot wave beams."

Jaune's sword returned to normal. He contracted his shield, slung it across his back, sheathed his blade, and walked away.

When he was absolutely sure no one was looking, he fist-pumped and did a little celebration dance that all the forms of his Semblance had worked so well.

* * *

Pyrrha's sword came into contact with her enemy's mace, which appeared to be locked into a gauntlet on his hand.

She briefly reflected that even in build, her enemy reminded her of Cardin Winchester.

It clearly wasn't, but it made her feel better about beating him.

Pyrrha's hand shot out and grabbed the mace. The operative looked confused for a second.

He then slowly realized what exactly that meant, and his face became less "confused" and more "oh crap."

Pyrrha whipped her free hand up, and the man, pulled by his mace, began to fly around the ceiling at high speed.

This lasted a good ten seconds before Pyrrha flipped Milō into its rifle form and shot the man three times, before using her Semblance to slam him into the ground.

Thankfully, his arms hit first, so she didn't have to worry that she'd accidentally broken his neck.

* * *

Nora happily chased after the twin-sword-wielding operative, holding her hammer high in the air.

"Stand still so I can hit you!"

The agent took this, apparently, as a cue to begin running faster.

Nora took that as a cue to change Magnhild to its grenade launcher form and fire several shots.

The man flew into the air before landing hard.

Nora ran over to his unconscious body, noting the snapped legs.

"That's gonna leave a mark!"

* * *

Ren threw out his pistol-blades to block the operative's daggers and then fired his automatic pistols into the man's chest.

The man skidded back on his feet before charging again with his knives.

Ren holstered his pistols and side-stepped the attack, before hitting the operative in the back with a palm strike.

A pulse of energy expanded from the blow, and vibrations almost imperceptible to the ear or to the touch went through the agent's body.

The agent coughed up a slight degree of blood, and then fell to the floor.

Ren checked quickly for a pulse, relieved to find one still there.

"Be thankful you have Aura," Ren said. "If you hadn't, my Semblance would probably have left a gaping hole in your chest. Those vibrations are powerful."

* * *

Shortly after those events had transpired, the operatives captured had been placed in medical custody, and a majority of the Hunters involved in the fight had returned to their dorms. Yang and Blake, however, had mentioned something about a "night on the town" before Yang had dragged Blake away from the others.

Weiss and Ruby were sitting on their bunks, one above the other.

Ruby spoke.

"Hey, Weiss, guess what's happening soon!"

"Ruby, is this about our moving into partner dorms?"

"Well…yeah."

There was silence for a while.

"Ruby?"

"Yeah, Weiss?"

"Today, back at the warehouse, you said if you thought your plan would put me in any danger from anyone, you wouldn't have proposed it. What did you mean by that?"

Ruby blushed a little.

"Weiss, I already explained that, remember? I was using 'you' to refer to everyone else."

"Oh. Alright. Good night, Ruby."

"Night, Weiss."

As Weiss turned to go to sleep, she thought a little before coming to a conclusion.

 _It's probably best that that's all she meant._

 _Because if she'd meant what I thought she meant, that would have been an issue._

 _Why would that have been an issue, though?_

 _Because of Father._

 _Why do you care about what he thinks anymore?_

 _I don't care about what he thinks._

 _But I care about what he might do._

 _To me…_

 _To my friends…_

 _And especially to Ruby._

As Ruby drifted off to sleep, she thought as well.

 _Not telling her was probably a good idea._

 _Why?_

 _Because I wouldn't have been able to stand the rejection._

 _What makes you so sure you'd be rejected?_

 _Because I'm almost certain Weiss isn't a lesbian._

 _And even if she is, she definitely doesn't feel that way about me._

 _Not the way I feel about her._

* * *

A/N: Intrigue! Shiptease! Probably horrible fight scenes!

Seriously, if anyone has any advice for me, leave it in a review and I will love you forever.

Also, this chapter was longer than the others. That might be normal, actually, as the others were exposition chapters. The plot is about to begin.


	4. Surprise, Motherfcker!

A/N: This took too long. I am well aware. I would like to blame that on a busy schedule, but I also am aware that the primary cause of delay (to both the prewriting and this chapter) was my laziness. I'm sorry, gomenasai, lo siento, _ur carvx dax ihk wux,_ blah blah blah. Anyway, my apologies again, and please enjoy this.

Also, I must, upon watching the progression of Volume 3, commend RT. While also hating them.

* * *

A noise emitted from the far side of Beacon's courtyard.

This normally would hardly have been surprising to anyone, of course. It was night, after all, and there was nothing preventing wildlife from entering the area, so a cricket would have been a possibility.

However, a strange, bell-like, vibrating sound in the air, accompanied by a woman stepping through a red portal that had appeared with the sound? _That_ was unusual.

Raven looked at the grounds. No students, no professors, no staff, no one.

Then again, that had always been why she'd preferred Beacon at night. No one had been around. Except, occasionally, Taiyang, during one of their illicit rendezvous.

But admiring the grounds could wait. After all, Raven was reasonably sure she was here to stay this time.

 _Now…is anyone I_ want _to know about my continued lifespan around?_

 _Wait, of course not, Raven. You were literally just admiring the silent, empty courtyard._

Raven sighed, and started to wait for her brother. Because if anyone she wanted to see was going to wind up in the courtyard this late, it was Qrow.

He'd probably be piss-drunk, but that was normal at this point.

* * *

Conveniently, she didn't have to wait for long. Qrow strode through the gate fifteen minutes later, and the wind carried the smell of what was either whiskey, vodka, or whatever her brother kept in his flask straight in Raven's direction. She resisted the urge to gag while silently marveling at Qrow's alcohol tolerance.

As he walked past the bush she was crouching behind, Raven got up and walked behind him, tapping him lightly on the shoulder.

"You swore you'd never drink when we went here, remember?"

Qrow turned around.

"And you said you'd never leave anyone you loved, so I guess we both lied."

The Branwen siblings stood silent for a moment before huge grins broke out on both their faces. Raven rushed to embrace Qrow, who did his part to awkwardly return the hug.

"Welcome back, sis. I always thought you were still alive."

Raven let go of Qrow, and the two fell into stride together.

"Really? I thought for sure I fooled you all."

Qrow laughed.

"C'mon, Raven. Your death certificate said Nevermore attack. And everyone else on STRQ knew how good you were at killing Nevermores."

"I only killed one solo, Qrow."

"Two, actually. You forgot that it crushed its egg. And besides, I know almost no one else who could solo a Nevermore—"

"Except you?"

Qrow smirked.

"Except me."

* * *

Ozpin had not prepared for this.

This was actually something of a shock. Ozpin prided himself on having a solution to every situation, no matter how unlikely.

But he had _not_ prepared for one of his best Huntresses coming back from the dead. Neither, from their expressions, had James or Glynda.

The trio of Academy leaders were standing there, shocked.

Raven was therefore the first to speak.

"Hello, everyone!"

Ozpin shook himself out of his confusion to answer.

"…hello, Raven. Might I ask how exactly you are still alive?"

"Well," replied Raven, "I _did_ actually kill the Nevermore that supposedly killed me. And I carved a mask out of its exoskeletal skull thing. But…"

Raven's voice became deathly serious as she spoke the next words.

"…when I was turning to leave, the Nevermore disintegrated into some sort of Dust. It wasn't like any I'd seen—it was completely black, and when I touched it, it burned my skin.

"So I managed to obtain a sample using one of my sword's vials and went to get it analyzed, but then one thing led to another, and…"

Raven shook her head.

"…well, I ran into a guy who looked at it and said he had an idea. He took out a sample of this white kind of Dust that he said he'd come by with great difficulty, and when he touched the two together, they exploded. And the explosion seemed to have generated an equivalent amount of all the basic Dust types—wind, fire, water, earth—as well as a smaller amount of lightning and gravity Dust. It was a surprisingly harmless explosion, though—mostly because we'd used small samples, apparently.

"So the guy asked if he could come with me and see if he could reverse the reaction to synthesize these Dust types. So we traveled together for a while. But he got himself killed recently, so I decided to come back."

Ironwood, who had regained his composure, responded.

"Raven, you were gone for _twelve years_."

"I know, Ironwood."

"Raven, you were gone long enough for Taiyang to remarry, and then for his _second_ wife to die."

"I am very aware, Ironwood."

"Well, in any case," Glynda stated, "it is good to have you back, Ms. Branwen. Would you like us to inform the public and appropriate legal authorities?"

"No."

Qrow looked shocked.

"Why not, sis? I mean, you've got…hold on, let me count…"

"A daughter, a daughter's half-sister, and an ex-husband, Qrow. I know."

"So…why don't you want them to know?"

"Let's just say I'm not entirely sure those people, especially Yang, would be happy to see me. I'm just here to provide whatever non-public assistance I can."

Ironwood coughed.

"In that case, we may have a task for you. We have a prisoner we need to interrogate—we could use your help."

Raven just nodded.

"Alright."

As she was turning to leave, however, Raven came to a sudden realization, and quickly turned back to Ozpin.

"Um, Ozpin, is there somewhere I could sleep?"

Her stomach growled loudly.

"Also, do you have food?"


	5. In Which Buildup to Chapter 6 Happens

The cell block's door flew open with a bang.

From his position on his cot, Roman Torchwick could definitely tell he wasn't getting any shuteye tonight.

"Alright, Torchwick!"

 _So the General decided to pay my lowly self a visit, did he?_

"I am going to open your cell and personally escort you to your destination! If you try _anything_ , I will shoot you in the kneecap!"

"What if I try asking for a Mistralian filet?" replied Roman.

No response was given.

"I'll take that as a no, then. Shame-my delicate constitution isn't very used to prison food."

Ironwood walked over to Roman's cell, gun out in the event of an attack.

"Shut up, Torchwick."

Roman, despite himself, grinned as his hands were cuffed behind his back and he was blindfolded.

It was always fun to get a rise out of people.

* * *

Roman was led to an interrogation cell, his blindfold was removed, and he was cuffed to a chair behind a classic wall of glass. Bright lights flicked on above his head, semi-blinding him. He scoffed.

 _Really? Third-degree lights? As though this is my first time to the rodeo._

Roman heard a clacking noise coming towards his door. Ozpin pushed open the door, followed shortly by Qrow, Goodwitch, Ironwood, and some other person he didn't recognize-though she did look quite like Rose's sister. All of them were visibly armed.

"You know," Roman said, "you can put down your weapons. I don't bite."

Ozpin shook his head.

"Considering your infamous reputation, Mr. Torchwick, I think everyone on this ship will feel a little more comfortable knowing that you're surrounded by armed Hunters."

"Alrighty then," responded Roman. "So anyway…"

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands.

"What massively important information do you need from me today?"

Ozpin blinked.

"I can't possibly see how you could have drawn that conclusion."

"Come on, Ozpin," Roman said sarcastically. "I'm in an interrogation cell, about to be given the third degree by two headmasters, two legendary Hunters, and…"

He looked at the mysterious woman, cocking his head to the side.

"...I'm sorry, have we met?"

The woman frowned.

"Raven Branwen. Formerly active Huntress."

"I know the name. Nice to meet you, Ms. Branwen."

Ozpin sat down and placed his cane on the table in front of him.

"Mr. Torchwick, I'm not going to make this conversation any longer than it needs to be, and instead will get straight to the point. We have a proposition for you."

"And that would be?"

"A simple deal. You were working with Cinder Fall prior to your capture. We ask two things of you: firstly, that you provide us with all the information available about your associates, and secondly, that you operate under our command rather than that of Miss Fall."

"That's a lot of danger you want me to put myself in, buddy," replied Roman. "What, might I ask, do _I_ get out of this?"

"Protection from Miss Fall, amnesty for all crimes currently on record, and a substantial sum should we win this war. You may also wish to know that should you decline, General Ironwood will shoot you in the head."

"Well, that sounds good enough for me," said Roman. "Although if that amnesty could apply to future crimes, that would be most appreciated."

Ironwood leveled his pistol at Torchwick's head.

"Don't push your luck, Torchwick."

"Alright, _James,_ " Roman sneered. "So, anyway…"

He turned back to Ozpin.

"What info do you want?"

"Right now," Ozpin replied, "we only wish to learn the plan. There is clearly a method to the madness here, but we can't quite deduce it."

"Oh, the plan? The plan is easy. Although this might take a while."

"We've got time," Qrow muttered from his position in the corner of the room.

Roman leaned back in his chair.

"Alright then, kids. Welcome to Professor Torchwick's 'Evil Plans of Evil People 101.' Take notes."


End file.
